Here are the first pictures of MSI GeForce GTX 670. The GTX 670 will be NVIDIA's third SKU based on the GK104, and will be positioned to compete with AMD Radeon HD 7950. The card pictured below is nearly identical to a Leadtek-branded one that was pictured last week, which leads us to believe that this could very well be NVIDIA reference design, with just MSI's sticker on. One can deduce, by the location of the two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, that this card also uses a different PCB layout from the one GeForce GTX 680 does.

The source also mentions some specifications, some of which we know from older reports, some of which we don't. The card packs 1344 CUDA cores, 112 TMUs, 32 ROPs, a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface holding 2 GB of memory, and clock-speeds of 900 MHz (core base), 1250 MHz actual or 5.00 GHz effective GDDR5 memory. It is predicted that future non-reference designs could come in much shorter PCBs thanks to rather slim VRM requirements, and just 8 memory chips, the GPU package isn't too big, either. Display outputs include two dual-link DVI, and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort. So the ability to set up 3D Vision Surround from one card could remain intact. Lastly, the box mentions "OC Edition", and so the card could come with out of the box overclocked speeds. There's also a juicy typo on that box.

Probably good news for anyone that buys discrete graphics cards. If the 660 Ti and 670 enter the channel at their rumoured price points then those people who buy AMD can likely look forward to less expensive 7950's and 7870's -esp the non-reference variety.

Probably good news for anyone that buys discrete graphics cards. If the 660 Ti and 670 enter the channel at their rumoured price points then those people who buy AMD can likely look forward to less expensive 7950's and 7870's -esp the non-reference variety.

Click to expand...

Pretty much this. I think 660 (gk106) will really force 7870 down though, just as the situation is with gk104 vs Tahiti...it is a game of default performance/clockspeeds. The default clockspeed(s) the nvidia products run make them appear stronger than the ipc behind them. 660 will almost certainly have similar clocks to 680, but using a 192-bit bus and 5ghz memory. This will trump a 7850 at 860mhz all things considered, and appear appealing. Since Pitcairn is the same size as gk106 and 7870 has less total ipc/mem overclockability than even butchered gk104's, the obvious fight for AMD to pick is to position 7870 as a value alt to 660ti and performance alt to 660.

7950 v 670

1792 @ 800mhz = 1344 + 224 @ 914mhz.

50% more bandwidth = ~8% more performance = 914x1.08 = 988mhz

expected boost clock: 1ghz

Expectation: They will perform very similar, except in scenarios limited by texture/rop/pixel fillrate unit clocks. Overclocked they will be similar all-around or advantage AMD as unlike 7970 vs 680, 7950 is not ROP-limited (or shader over-kill depending on how you look at it) and with similar clockspeeds the greater IPC will become apparent.

7870 v 660ti

1280 @ 1000mhz = 1152 + 192 @ 953mhz

28% more bandwidth = ~4.5% more performance = 953x1.045 = 996mhz

expected clocks: same as 670 (1ghz boost/5ghz mem)

Expectation: They will perform very similar. 660ti closer to what many expected Pitcairn to be than what it actually was, which really isn't all that different.

7850 vs 660

1024 @ 860mhz = 768 + 192 @ 983mhz

28% more bw = ~4.5% more perf = 983x1.045 = 1027mhz

expected clocks: 1.12 boost/5ghz mem

Expectation: Between edging out and putting the hurt on 7850 at default clocks depending on game bottleneck (similar to 670 vs 7950). Overclocked the story is murky. Depending on if people care enough to try to get 7850's above 1050mhz, which AMD has tried their hardest to stop, and/or find a card with voltage adjustments (which AMD also doesn't like hence the powertune cap) it could go from a tie to advantage AMD. The obvious response, of course, is this is when AMD shows the real value of Pitcairn and it edges closer to becoming the new Barts.